Through the Eyes of Another

Intercultural reading of the Bible

Edited by Daniel S. Schipani, Hand de Wit, Louis Jonker, Marleen Kool

This book documents an unprecedented three-year research study centered on the story of the encounter of Jesus with a Samaritan woman. The study involved a unique partnership of committed and creative ordinary readers, expert teachers and other pastoral leaders, and Bible and theology scholars, representing many countries in five continents.

The book starts with a thorough description of the research project together with colorful windows on the actual experience of groups who read the John 4 story and interacted with other readers from very different cultural backgrounds. It continues with several case studies that helpfully focus and deepen those observations, with special attention to contextual and intercontextual dynamics. Then follow critical analyses of various dimensions of the hermeneutical and communication processes involved in the experience. Finally, a number of implications are drawn for practical theology and theological education, hermeneutical practices and studies, and ecumenical and missiological endeavors.

Walter Wink says,
Quietly, almost imperceptibly, biblical study has been undergoing a Copernican revolution. Much of the impetus comes from the Southern hemisphere, but Eurocentric methods are also undergoing change. People are recovering the Bible’s capacity to act as a catalyst for self-criticism and transformation. They are learning to read scripture from multicultural perspectives, and have their own preconceptions challenged by the authenticity of the experience of others’ encounters with the text. Brilliantly conceived and painstakingly presented, this tour de force might just save biblical study from its Babylonian captivity to dogmatism and cultural isolation. - Walter Wink, Professor of Biblical Interpretation, Auburn Theological Seminary

Published by the Institute of Mennonite Studies and The Free University, Amsterdam.